If ever proof were needed that London’s young jazz scene is on fire right now, here it was: first up, the conservatoire trained, in demand double bassist and composer Daniel Casimir, leading a crack quartet of fellow rising stars through a set of tunes from his excellent EP, Escapee.
Guest vocalist and co-writer Tess Hirst delivered sombre lyrics on an opener that reclaimed jazz as a political medium, slow-burning from resonant atmospherics into a Mingus-derived modal wig out buoyed by crashing drums, nimble guitar and freeform keyboards and piano from Sarah Tandy, a musical force hidden behind her sheets of hair.
A zeitgeisty new ballad, London What Did I Do?, saw Hirst decrying our changing capital (‘Nothing real happens in Dalston anymore’); Really For Always showcased Casimir’s knack for complex chord changes and communicative, velvety playing while keeping his band tight and grooving.
Fresh out of South London came Ruby Rushton, a fabulously louche, genre-surfing sextet led by multi-instrumentalist Ed ‘Tenderlonious’ Cawthorne, whose long playing compositions recalled the likes of Herbie Hancock and Yusef Lateef but came imbued with percussive flourishes – shakers, cowbells - and a sort of wild British originality.
Tracks from their recent Trudi’s Songbook albums were re-energised by strong interplay, on-the-fly ideas and a mesmerising dexterity, with Cawthorne moving from twiddling synth knobs on Ferndale Corner to delivering a lilting flute solo on Prayer for Yusef and blasting golden-toned saxophone everywhere else. Psychedelic peaks were reached, especially on Tisbury Truckin’, with Nick Walters’ reflective trumpet making way for some spirited, and spiritual, ensemble playing.
The future of UK jazz, then, looks bright; this was the sound of tomorrow, today.
